28/02/2012 08:50
BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 - A new agreement will see Iraq and Syria work together to complete the Al-Qa'im railway line and increase the exchange of commercial goods between the two countries.

Iraqi Railways Company signed an agreement yesterday with Syrian Railways to construct the remainder of the railway line to reach the Iraqi border in the Al-Qa'im area, which will be linked with the Iraqi line at the end of this year.

This will result in two railway ports for Iraq and Syria. The other port is in Rabei.

Spokesman for the company Jawad al-Kharsan said the agreement will also bulk up the number of goods carried on the Rabei line between the countries.

The move will carry significant economic return for Iraq and Syria, added Kharsan.

The expected value of the increase in goods is unknown.

__________________"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them." -Andy Bernard

right now goods exchange has fallen off a cliff. and truth be told, in the last 6 months I've seen maybe 2 trains in the entire distance between Baghdad and Basra (and trust me I keep an eye out for them!).

for all intents and purposes there are no running trains in Iraq.

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Sumer and Akkad is not Iraq. Independence for Sumeria.

Iraq’s transport minister, Hadi al-Ameri [al-Amari] (pictured), has appealed to foreign firms to help restore his country’s dilapidated infrastructure by rebuilding airports and constructing a European-style rail network, according to a report from AFP.

Addressing nearly 50 companies in Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone, he said that as Iraq’s oil income rises in the coming years there will be increasing numbers of projects to upgrade the country’s potholed roads and small airports.

“Iraq could be the most attractive place in the world for investment in the transport sector … There are billions of dollars worth of opportunities for investment.”

Ameri said he expected revenues from oil would top $200 billion, double current projections, when production rises to around 4 million barrels per day in the coming years.

He said the government wanted to renovate existing airports and sea ports, as well as building new ones, and that it also wanted to establish 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) of rail track with “European characteristics”.

The recently-approved 2012 budget allocates around $1 billion for transport and communications.

Just last week the National Investment Commission again called for international companies to tender for the construction of a monorail system in Karbala.

Iraq’s National Investment Commission (NIC) re-announced on Thursday the details of the new Kerbala Monorail, and invited interested parties to contact them:

Length of the line (18 KM)
Project Type (Monorail) – High Concrete mono rail of two ways known locally as Kerbala Monorail.
Number of stations (20) the distance between each station and another (800- 1000M)
In the first stage, the line shall connect the Visitors City – Baghdad road, Al- Bedaa railway station, Bab Baghdad area, Tweredg road, the university, Ibrahemiah and the Visitors’ road of Babylon Gate.
The successive coming of the trains to the stations must take (1-2) Minutes
Maximum train speed 90 km/hour
Number of vehicles for each train (4-6)
The electrical power is to be provided by the project generators only.

Willing investors can submit their technical, economic offers and the funding plans with filling up the investment application form available on NIC website and enclosing all documents required (mentioned in page No. 7 of the same application) and send it either directly to the NIC premises or to the email:

anyone know what type of trains they're buying? Iraq already bought many locos from Turkey. They are good locos actually, I don't know why you lot are complaining. These are locos for FREIGHT not luxury high speed passenger traffic!

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Sumer and Akkad is not Iraq. Independence for Sumeria.

The person above can answer that best. The most prominent train line, which is not in use atm. Is the train from europe to baghdad, where I can get a train from london to germany and from their to baghdad. trains currently, I think only travel to nearby cities.

Iraq wants to buy 10 passenger trains and has asked companies including France’s Alstom SA (ALO) to submit bids, according to the country’s railway company.
Chinese businesses including Datong Electric Locomotive Co. have been invited to submit bids, as have manufacturers in Turkey, Iran and Croatia, Jawad al-Kharsan, a spokesman for the national railway, said in an interview in Baghdad today. The winning company will have to supply two trains this year and the remaining eight by 2013, he said.
The two new trains will run on a track linking the capital Baghdad with the southern port city of Basra, he said. Iraq bought 40,000 tons of railway track worth $50 million two years ago to complete and upgrade Iraq’s railway grid, he said.
Iraq’s railway company has 100 passenger wagons that are out of service and has invited the same companies to rehabilitate 50 of them for five trains, Mohammad Ali Hashim, head of the mechanical engineering department at the railway company, said in a telephone interview in Baghdad.
The company also owns about 1,000 cargo wagons that are working and 4,000 that are out of service, he said.

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Sumer and Akkad is not Iraq. Independence for Sumeria.